My Maltese Almost Got Heartworm in Gurgaon, Here's What I Changed
A Gurgaon dog parent's diary on heartworm prevention in India: what failed, what worked, and the monthly routine that keeps Pixie safe.
Pixie had been scratching at her chest for three days before I Googled anything.
I assumed it was the heat. July in Gurgaon does weird things to small dogs. She was eating fine, playing fine, doing her usual laps around the balcony at 6am. I filed it under "probably nothing" and moved on.
Then my vet said two words that made me put my phone down.
Heartworm risk.
Heartworm prevention for India dogs is one of those topics that feels distant until it suddenly isn't. I thought heartworm was a thing that happened to dogs in forests, or in the West, or to dogs that went outside all day. Not to a two-year-old Maltese living on the 11th floor of a Gurgaon high-rise.
I was wrong about almost all of that.
What Heartworm Disease Actually Does
Here is what I had to learn fast, because I had not paid attention before.
Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) is transmitted by mosquitoes. A mosquito bites an infected dog, picks up microscopic larvae, then bites your dog and deposits those larvae into the bloodstream. The larvae travel through the body and eventually settle in the heart, lungs, and surrounding blood vessels. Over months, they grow into worms that can reach 30cm in length.
Inside an infected dog, the worms obstruct blood flow. The heart works harder. The lungs become inflamed. Eventually, the damage compounds into heart failure, lung disease, and organ damage.
This takes time. Which is exactly why it is so dangerous. By the time symptoms appear, the disease is already advanced.
My vet in Sector 56 walked me through this with diagrams on her tablet. I kept thinking: Pixie weighs 3.2kg. Her heart is the size of a walnut. The idea of worms living in there was enough to make me commit to whatever prevention looked like.
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Why Mosquitoes in Apartments Are Not a Fantasy
I know what you are thinking because I thought it too.
We are on the 11th floor. Mosquitoes do not come up here.
Except they absolutely do. Especially in monsoon season, which in Gurgaon runs brutal from late June through September. The building's water tanks, the terracotta pots I keep on the balcony, even the humidity from wet towels left out, all of these create mosquito habitat. I started finding them near Pixie's sleeping corner, which is next to the sliding balcony door.
If your dog is in India and mosquitoes can reach her, heartworm risk is real. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, and coastal cities tend to have longer high-risk windows because of climate, but Gurgaon in monsoon is absolutely not safe.
What I Tried First and Where It Failed
My first instinct was to handle this "naturally." I had read something about essential oils and mosquito-repelling plants. I added citronella near the balcony, switched to a screen door, and started using a plugin repellent in the room where Pixie sleeps.
I also want to note, because I fell for similar thinking with fleas: natural methods rarely substitute for medical prevention. There are real myths about natural flea prevention for dogs in India that I had already learned the hard way. I should have connected the dots faster with heartworm.
Two weeks in, my vet asked if I had started prevention medication.
I had not.
She was patient about it. She explained that there is no natural barrier that reliably stops heartworm transmission. The larvae enter through the mosquito bite directly into the bloodstream. You cannot put something on the fur to stop that.
The Turning Point
My vet ran a basic heartworm antigen test. Pixie came back negative. I exhaled for about thirty seconds and then committed to starting prevention immediately.
The medication she prescribed was a monthly chewable tablet, a macrocyclic lactone, given on the same date every month. In India, the most commonly available options in this class include ivermectin-based and milbemycin-based formulations. Your vet will recommend based on your dog's weight, breed, and any existing sensitivities. Collie-type breeds sometimes have reactions to ivermectin, so breed matters here.
The tablet costs roughly 150-300 rupees per month depending on the formulation and your dog's size. That is cheaper than one consultation visit.
My vet also noted that many of these preventives come in combination formulas, covering heartworm plus intestinal worms, or even fleas and ticks together. That is worth asking about because it simplifies the whole monthly routine into one dose.
The key point she made: prevention works by killing larvae before they can mature. You give the tablet monthly, it clears any larvae that entered over the past 30 days, and the cycle never gets a foothold. Treatment of an already infected dog is expensive (we are talking 20,000-50,000 rupees or more), physically hard on the dog, and requires strict cage rest for weeks.
Prevention is not a comparison. It is just the obvious choice once you understand what treatment involves.
What My Monthly Routine Looks Like Now
The 15th of every month is Pixie's prevention day.
I set a phone reminder. The tablet is a flavoured chewable she eats like a treat, so there is no drama. I note it in a small notebook I keep with her vaccination records. When her annual vet visit comes up, I bring the notebook.
I also had a separate conversation with my vet about her rabies vaccine schedule, which led me down a useful rabbit hole about what Indian dog parents often miss on vaccine timelines. If you have not read through what to know about rabies vaccine cost for dogs in India, it is worth 10 minutes.
Beyond medication, I am more deliberate about the balcony now. The terracotta pots that held standing water are gone. I check the balcony door screen weekly. I do not leave Pixie out alone after 6pm during monsoon. These are not substitutes for medication, but they reduce exposure.
For her indoor routine, especially on rainy days when she does not want to go outside, I have also built out her indoor activity options so she is not restless. A restless dog means a dog pacing near open doors and balconies, which is exactly where the mosquito problem is.
What I Would Tell You If We Were Talking in the Lift
Start prevention now, not at the next vet appointment.
I say this because I pushed it by six weeks because I thought I had a plan with the natural stuff and the screens. Six weeks in peak monsoon season in Gurgaon is not nothing. I got lucky that Pixie tested negative.
Ask your vet specifically about combination preventives. One tablet a month that covers heartworm, roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm is a better deal than managing separate schedules.
Keep a written record. Vets here will ask, and you want to know exactly when the last dose was.
Heartworm prevention for India dogs is one of the lower-effort, higher-impact things you can do for your apartment dog. The disease is serious. The prevention is simple.
Give Pixie-sized dogs a chance. Do not wait for symptoms.
FAQ
1. Can indoor apartment dogs in India actually get heartworm?
Yes. Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes, which access apartments through balconies, open windows, and ventilation. Dogs living on upper floors in Indian cities are still at risk, especially during monsoon season when mosquito populations spike. Elevation does not reliably protect against mosquito exposure.
2. Which heartworm prevention medication is right for my dog in India?
The most common options in India are monthly chewable tablets based on ivermectin or milbemycin oxime, available through veterinary clinics. The right choice depends on your dog's weight, breed, and overall health history. Collie breeds and related herding dogs sometimes have sensitivities to ivermectin, so always get a vet recommendation rather than buying over the counter.
3. How do I know if my dog already has heartworm?
A blood antigen test at your vet clinic can detect heartworm infection. In early stages, dogs often show no symptoms at all, which is why the disease is frequently missed. If your dog has never been on prevention and you live in India, ask your vet to test before starting a preventive medication.